chef_chocobro | The Apartment above Covent Garden; Thursday Evening [02/03].

Entry tags:

The Apartment above Covent Garden; Thursday Evening [02/03].

Even if it weren't for the company that would be going along with it, Ignis could hardly complain about having had a nice quiet afternoon preparing for dinner that evening, especially now that his concerns about the Niflheim movement were, so far, overexaggerated and potentially unneccisary. He was not still entirely willing to accept that there was nothing to worry about (there was always something to worry about), but it seemed rote enough that he could allow himself to focus on enjoying himself with tonight's...

...well, he supposed he could call it a date. Everyone else seemed to have been.

With some music to guide him, he'd gotten to work preparing his menu, which may have involved aquiring some fresh ingredients from Galdin Quay specifically, some dumplings to go with it, and, for dessert, a fluffy chiffon cake...of course.

And he didn't have to do much to decorate the place tastefully, either, as the apartment was distinctly already a paragon of taste between himself and Seivarden, really, and the gladiolus tht usually sat on the table served as a nice centerpiece. Perhaps a few candles, as he did rather like the atmosphere they lended to the event last time, but he would not be sorry in the least bit to report that there was no glitter, thank you.

The sheer trouble of cleaning it up alone...!

But, with everything pretty much set, there was very little he could do at this point except wait for his guest to arrive and finally force the decision between which two of the wines he'd picked up to pair with it to ultimately go with, easily the most taxing decision to make out of all this.

[[ expecting one, of course :) ]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

All of this still felt weird to Goose, dressing up and everything but he wanted to at least try and make the effort even if it wasn’t something that he was used to and he had decided to wear something different for the evening.

He really didn’t know what to bring and eventually called Doc for help again, which had meant that he’d spent the first half of the call answering questions about last week and what had happened and the fact that Goose was having another dinner … well he supposed this counted as a dinner date. Doc had suggested that he bring flowers because trying to go through wine options with Goose, well he would need longer than one call to explain all of that.

So Goose had ended up following Doc’s advice and brought over flowers, which he also really didn’t know anything about - he only had two succulents after all but he hoped they would be okay.

He tried not to feel to nervous as he knocked on the door and waited.

Ignis had not, strictly speaking, dressed up, but he always dressed well, it was a point of pride for him, so when he head the knock on the door, he gave the paella one last taste-test as if he'd even had time to adjust if needed before removing the protective apron (not that he really needed it; he was as fastidious in his cooking as with anything, but it never hurt to take the extra precaution) and hanging it up, and then found himself somewhat surprised by his sudden fussing with the finer details of his appearance, which was a dangerous thing to start on unless he wanted to keep his guest waiting.

Which he did not, so he went to open the door. "Shane." The subtle smile was almost immediate with the greeting, as he stepped back. "Please. Come in. And you've brought flowers."

That subtle grin was maybe a bit less subtle now.

“Thank you,” Goose said with a nervous grin as he stepped inside.

“I … I wasn’t sure what to bring,” he admitted, “I was told flowers were a good alternative to wine?” he still sure but well Doc knew way more about this then he did so he was trusting him on this matter, “I … I hope they’re okay?”

"They're perfect," Ignis assured him, reaching out to take them off of Shane's hands and give them a closer look. "They'll actually compliment the gladiolus quite nicely, though the only thing you need to bring, really, is yourself.

"Can I get you a drink?" he then asked, moving already to lead him toward the dining room, where he could make space on the table for the new flowers. "It's just about ready, but there's certainly need to rush right into it."

Goose was quite relieved to hear that and started to relax a bit when he handed over the vase to Ignis and followed him to towards the living room, “a drink would be nice, please,” he said rather shyly, because he was still rather nervous about this evening.

"Good," said Ignis, because he was rather looking forward to finally breaking into one of those bottles himself. "I was having a bit of trouble deciding if I should go with the chardonnay or the roussanne. I don't suppose you have a particular preference?"

A statement that was not merely conversational, really, as Ignis truly didn't suppose Shane would have a preference, but if it turned out he did? Well, wouldn't that just be an intriguing and delightful surprise.

Goose blinked a bit as he tried to recall if he was at least even familiar with the names and nothing seemed familiar… “I …I actually haven’t even heard of them before,” he finally admitted, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his neck.

He was definitely not used to this.

Perhaps that had been a little unfair of Ignis, but he really couldn't feel too terribly bad about it. "The roussanne, then, I think," he decided, as he went for the bottle and the two glasses already set out. "A bit more...exciting," he explained as he poured. "A bit more off the beaten path."

And once poured, he handed one of the glasses over to Shane before lifting his in appreciation. "To yet another fine evening," he proposed, "of good food and exceptional company."

Goose nodded and smiled, returning the toast, since he knew enough that was what he was expected to do now, he took a sip, “I quite like that,” he said, he was quite surprised by how much he was enjoying trying different wines.

Now the real trick was to see how long it took until he began to be able to discern the differences beyond merely red and white...but they had plenty of time to work toward that.

"It's flowery but herbaceous notes are always a nice surprise," Ignis mused, after his own sip and a moment to admire the color, "especially balanced with its noteable acidity, even by itself, but when paired with seafood and spice, the profile can be almost transcendent."

One day Goose may figure out that there were in fact differences between the wines but it was definitely going to take a while and a lot of wine before he figured that out.

“I never realised there was so much involved with wine before,” he admitted as he took another sip, “I hadn’t had a lot of experience with drinking before I moved back to Fandom,” because funnily enough they tended to frown on you drinking while on duty, “it’s definitely been interesting to learn,”

Even if that learning mostly involved just how many jello shots he could drink before he passed out.

Thank the gods his education was now at least somewhat elevated from jello shots.

(Although, to be fair, some of what Summer managed to pull off with gelatin was rather impressive. It was just not all of it was impressive in a strictly good way.)

"Mmm, well," the hum was a soft, pleased sound, and Ignis had an expression to match with his next sip, "there certainly is plenty to learn, but I'm afraid if I start in on it now, we'll never get to the food, and that would be a terrible waste of a good paella."

He started to turn slightly toward the kitchen. "Shall we?"

“Of course,” Goose smiled as he followed him, “I must admit I’ve never tried Pa…Paella,” he stumbled over the word.

Even though he had a feeling Ignis probably wouldn’t be surprised by that revelation at this point.

"I hope you enjoy seafood, then, at least," Ignis noted, setting his wine aside for a moment so that he could start dishing out the food. "Otherwise, we may have to consider a new course of action. But I've sourced the medley straight from Galdin Quay itself; there's no finer seafood in all of Lucis."

“Oh I do like seafood,” Goose nodded, he really wasn’t that picky of an eater when it came to it, “well I like food in general really ,” he added after a bit.

"That certainly does make my part in this that much easier, then," Ignis noted with amusement, as he handed the wide, shallow bowl over to Shane. "There's also some tomally-filled dumplings, and a chiffon cake fr dessert, but, obviously, we'll get to that in due time."

“It all sounds amazing,” Goose said shyly as he accepted the bowl from Ignis, “thank you,” who knows maybe some day Goose would be at the point of being able to cook seafood … even if that day was a very long way off. He still had to master the basics.

“I’m … er … I’m really enjoying … this … um … spending time with you I mean,” he stammered awkwardly and blushed.

He'd already managed to not set things on fire, really, so he was already well on the right path.

And Ignis rather realized, just then, that, for all his training and upbringing, one thing that he failed to really know what to do with at times was a genuine sincerity like that. It did, however, make him smile, albeit softly. "The feeling," he assured him, "is quite mutual, Shane."

There was a pause, as if he might have added something more, but, instead, he moved to the table. "Let's eat."

He just had to work on not getting any more food stains on the ceiling and then he would be making really excellent progress.

Goose smiled softly as he moved towards the table to sit down, he wasn’t used to … well expressing emotions that could make him vulnerable so he was making rather considerable progress in that regard.

“I’m … er … I’m looking forward to trying this,” he said as he sat down, his cheeks going redder as he tried not to feel so awkward about this. Surely he could get through one conversation at dinner without stammering so much?

"I hope you enjoy it," Ignis said, with the confidence that went along with the idea that if he didn't, it had more to do with Shane's level of taste than Ignis' ability to cook. "It's a recipe actually inspired by a similar dish offered by the head chef at the Mother of Pearl, the premiere restaurant at the Galdin Quay resort. Coctura Arlund truly has a masterful hand when it comes to seafood; I can only hope I've managed to come close to doing her fine work justice."

Goose nodded as he listened to Ignis’ explanation, even though he supposed he had no way of actually comparing but well it was Ignis so he imagined that it would be pretty close to what it was supposed to taste like.

“I don’t really have much experience with restaurants, well any kind really,” he admitted, again not really that surprising considering it was Goose, “sometimes we were assigned protection detail for the League of Planets for various diplomatic social functions but that was for work,”

He picked up the spoon and then took a mouthful of it, eating it carefully as he tried it and he was definitely enjoying it, “this is really good,” he told him with a smile.

"Another one for the books, then," said Ignis, after a bite of his own and a moment to just enjoy the praise. It was true that he had the utmost confidence in his success, true, but it was still nice to hear it, especially considering the source. He washed the bite down with a little of the wine before adding, in a thoughtful tone, "I suppose that is one benefit to my own line of work. Occasionally, there's the opportunity to travel, and that travel often comes with the chance to enjoy a bit of the local cultures."

“We don’t really get to stay a lot in the places we visit with our jobs, we don’t have a lot of resources at the moment and the Ranger teams are spread across the galaxy,” Goose considered after he took another bite of food, “I think the closest I got was last year when I wound up getting sucked through a black hole and ended up out on the frontier, on a planet called Ozark … except well most of the population weren’t exactly that welcoming to newcomers and my bio defences weren’t working properly because of the black hole … it was definitely a different experience,”

One that he hoped he didn’t have to repeat because all of that morphing hadn’t been fun, even though he realised that being in Fandom the odds of that happening were pretty high already especially with what had happened the other week.

"I have to admit," Ignis mused, "that I'm rather grateful that the only experience I've had with holes like that would be the plague of them that beset the island this last summer. I can't say it was very pleasant being sucked into one and trapped deep under the island for several weeks, but your situation sounds as if it was harrowing, indeed. How did you manage to get yourself out of it? Especially considering the particular...complications."

“I must admit I’ve never heard of people getting trapped by holes for weeks here in Fandom before,” Goose said as he tilted his head, “that sounds new … I spent nearly a week trapped in the dungeon as a prisoner with a few other Fandom residents when Umbridge created an alternate timeline and took over the school,” he didn’t really like to think of that time.

He paused as he considered Ignis’ question, “a local woman named Annie found me first before anyone else realised I’d crashed uninvited on their planet,” he said, “she took care of me while the worst of the transformations were happening … she could have turned me over to the Sheriff but she didn’t, it was then a matter of trying to get word to my team so they could find me, which proved to be the hardest part,” he explained.

There was a faint, distasteful hum around a bite of food at the mention of Fandom and its alternate timelines, a topic that could very quickly put him off his dinner entirely right now, so best to avoid dwelling on that any more than necessary.

Best, and easier, to focus on Shane's other tale instead. "Thank goodness for Annie, then," he decided with a soft smile.

Goose was rather glad that the focus moved away from the topic of being trapped and not having to explain the whole Umbridge thing, "she was definitely incredible with the whole thing...I don't think she quite understood what was happening but she made sure I could get help," he told him, "basically stared down against a mob that had formed to try and stop us,"

It had been a rather weird situation relying so much on the care of this one woman and being completely vulnerable but if she hadn't been there, well it could have been an entirely different situation entirely.

Ignis' brows lifted at the mention of staring down a mob, and, very soon after, he lifted his glass as well. "A truly remarkable woman, then," he said, "to whom we all clearly owe quite the debt of gratitude for you being here with us now, no doubt."

And by 'we all' and 'us,' he mostly meant himself in that moment, but...semantics. Details.

The thing was that hadn’t even been his first mob experience but well he was sure Ignis would rather not know that so he decided not to add that part.

Goose smiled softly at that, blushing again at that last part, he was not used to this at all, “it was definitely a different situation,” he nodded, “but I’m … I’m grateful that I’m here …” he rubbed the back of his neck, “I mean in general and … uh … here tonight…” there was another long pause, “with you,” and oh look his blush was getting redder.

And Ignis had to grin into his wine at that, followed by another bite, because this was something else he wasn't used to, such simplicity to the expression made even more undeniable by that blush. He was so much more accustomed to hedging words, of leaving the core of something unsaid, but skirting around it so closely but never so directly.

"The paths we've followed to take us here has certainly had some unexpected and unpredictable turns, Shane," he agreed, "but I'm incredibly pleased to see where we've wound up."

There was a pause, then, of flash of nervousness he was unaccustomed to feeling before he added, "And what may still lie ahead."

Goose smiled, still that bright shade of crimson as he also busied himself with eating another few bites of his meal, “I’m … same here,” he said finally, realising he didn’t quite know how to word everything that he was feeling and rather than try he just opted to keep it simple or at least as simple as he could, “it … I’m … I …I’m …” he stumbled clumsily through his attempt, paused and then, “I’m looking …um … I … hope we can … er … spend more time together,” he did not realise it was possible to blush that much.

Okay maybe he wasn’t keeping it as simple as he thought he was.

"Well," said Ignis, now with a faint smirk, unable to really help himself, but also hoping perhaps a little humor might help ease some of Shane's much more apparent nerves, endearing and charming as it may be, "it is a rather small island, I suspect it would be quite unavoidable."

Goose let out a nervous laugh … well it was supposed to be a laugh but it may have come out more like a squeak, which he then used to cover by taking a long sip of wine because wow he was bad at this.

“I suppose that is true,” he finally managed to get out after all that, “I’m pretty sure the only place I can’t really go to on the island is the Devil’s Nest, well I suppose I still could I just can’t have alcohol there, I'm still a couple of years from legally being able to drink in the States,” he said as he sipped more of his wine, which he supposed was rather ironic really. Not that that fact ever stopped him from going to Caritas on pretty much a weekly basis.

"You aren't missing too much," Ignis assured him. "Just some axes, a piano, and an excess of leather pants, although, really," there was a pause for some wine, "if it's that last one you're interested in, I can provide that in abundance."

And, really, he almost had to say that out of sheer curiosity about Shane's reaction alone.

“Leather pants?” Goose echoed and he stared at Ignis in confused bewilderment as it took him a bit to work out the implications of that statement and then … “oh….oh” his eyes widened and apparently it was in fact possible for a Supertrooper to go even redder.

It took him a while but he did eventually get there … and he found himself staring down at his wine because wow it was suddenly very fascinating.

Ignis had only meant to tease a little and, perhaps, to test a few waters tentatively; his intention had certain not been to reach an awkward, blushing near-standstill in the conversation, but there was no denying that that response was certainly...interesting.

"Not for every day wear, of course," he continued, smoothly, oh-so-casually as if in just a light continuation of the discussion, "but I do find, in the right situations, they can cut quite the figure and add just the right touch of dramatic flair."

Goose took another sip of wine but eventually found his voice again, “I must admit I don’t really know that much about clothes,” he admitted, which was Ignis even surprised by this fact at this point, especially considering how clueless he was about most normal everyday things, He was still rather red but at least he didn’t start blushing even more .. “this …” he indicated what he was wearing, “um … Doc’s been helping, well I think it was mostly that he got sick of the fact that I only had about five outfits and they were basically my uniform,” he revealed.

"Being accustomed to a uniform," Ignis reasoned, "does have the convenience of taking the guesswork out of one's fashion."

And he paused, to take a moment, as if really looking at what Shane was wearing, which, of course, he'd already done from the first moment he'd answered the door, but that had been a much more quiet, subtle, personal assessment, and now, he wanted his careful consideration to be noticed.

"You look good, though," he said. "A more casual look suits you well, Shane, while still managing to maintain hints of your cavalier charm."

“It’s … thank you,” Goose said softly, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, “it’s … well for all of this … I never thought … any of this was possible,” he considered, “it’s … “ he stared down at the table, “I mean … being more than … well,” he paused, “that I could be ... well more than what I was created for," he finally managed to stammer.

Edited 2022-02-04 10:46 (UTC)

It was impossible not to sit, patiently, through all of that and not feel an outpouring of sympathy and compassion, especially since....well, it wasn't entirely the same, not by a long shot, but Ignis wasn't exactly a stranger to feeling confined to the expectations of who you were and what you were expected to be.

"I think," he said, after a moment, to ensure that Shane had finished and to consider his words carefully, "we can all do well to strive to be so much more than what we were created for. Some of us," he gave an acknowledging nod of his head, "just have further to go than others, but, as far as I can tell, can truly make remarkable strides."

And, as an aside, as he took another sip of his wine, he thought to himself that perhaps he really should be a little easier on Prompto, too, while they were on the subject.

Goose gave a small smile, "there will be people back home who won't like this at all," he could already hear Senator Wheiner screaming about this if he knew, "they'll see this as being a weakness ... that they can justify my removal from the team or ... well..." his voice trailed off as he considered the other alternative. He took a sip of wine, "it will just remind them of the mess that they made with Wolf Den,"

Ignis set down his spoon, leaning forward on the table with his elbows, linking his fingers together in front of him thoughtfully. It was easily a topic to put him off his appetite, but at least, by this point, he had mostly finished anyway.

"Remarkable, isn't it," he mused with a dry him, "how some people play with fire, and then are utterly shocked when they eventually get burned."

He was quiet for a long, thoughtful moment before his gaze shifted steadily back to Shane.

"I understand," he finally said, "that my purview on the matter is limited in scope to what is in front of me now. But...from this vantage point, I certainly don't see a mess."

Goose was quiet, it was a topic that he wasn’t used to talking about it and well he wasn’t sure why he had brought it up now but well maybe it did need to be said, especially if it was to go further…

“Especially when those people are now in very powerful positions of government, even the man who was responsible for what happened … he’s a Senator now,” Goose sighed, “at least they haven't found about Fandom …it was why my CO was still able to reassign me …still …” his voice trailed off, “I … “ there was another pause, maybe he shouldn't say anything but while they were on the subject of powerful people from his world, “ … I … I feel I should warn you that I do have a lot of enemies who … well they wouldn’t hesitate to use you to get to me,” he said awkwardly, not quite able to meet Ignis’ gaze.

To that, Ignis held that gaze steadily for a moment before he let a faint grin, a light breath of a laugh surface.

"I'd certainly love to see them try," he declared. "I know I may not have quite your stature, Shane," which was a hell of a thing for a man standing at six foot even to say, "but I am a big boy, who can handle his own. One does not find themselves in the position of personal attendant to the crown prince of a nation at war without expecting to some day be used as a point of leverage."

Now, if they tried to get to Noctis to get to him to get to Shane, then he might have cause for concern, but he truly did not have enough confidence in Shane's enemies to be that....thorough. Underestimating them, perhaps, and a dangerous underestimation at that, but still...

"I might even look forward to it," he added, leaning back in his chair. "It would give me the chance to offer them a piece of my mind."

Or the flaming end of a dagger or the icy tip of his lance...

You know. Negotiation tactics.

Edited 2022-02-04 13:51 (UTC)

That wasn’t quite the response Goose was expecting and he did relax a bit at that. “I …just thought it was fair you should know …I mean ..my personal situation at home isn’t …well ideal,”

That was a bit of understatement, even though Goose wondered what Wheiner or even Killbane would make of Ignis, especially if he did give them a piece of his mind.

Even though Killbane could be rather ruthless when he set his mind to it but Goose was hopeful he hadn’t figured out about the multiverse and that it was possible to travel through it.

He rubbed the back of his neck, “I mean I hope you never have to run into them … especially…” he tried to say that if he was to visit his home one day but he couldn’t quite figure out how to say that, “I mean …if one day you would like to come home with me and meet everyone…my team that is, properly I mean,” he went rather bright red again as he said it and took a sip of wine.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The Apartment above Covent Garden; Thursday Evening [02/03].

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject